5 Reasons to Invest in Social Media

5 Reasons to Invest in Social Media

No one is denying it’s a challenge for small businesses to invest in social media if they’re unsure whether they’ll receive a monetary return on their financial investment. If you put in $100, you want at least $110 back. Right? At least. Unfortunately businesses may not yet be able to determine their exact ROI when it comes to social. (The software is still being developed and the price is still huge.) But, general industry knowledge confirms that social media is an essential component to your marketing and sales plan.

Here are five things a small business should know about investing in social media marketing.

1. Social gives you the ability to reach your audience

According to eMarketer, by 2013 60% of US internet users will use Facebook. Your target market is on social. No doubt about it. And with additional tools like Facebook Ads and Twitter Ads, you’ll be able to reach them.

2. Social can brand your business

My anti-American Italian teacher in college used to say, “Why when Americans come to Italy, they go to McDonald’s?” Well, we know they do because people like the familiar. If you’re effectively communicating your brand via social media content – whether it’s dependability or convenience, or expertise, your fans and followers will take it in and begin to feel comfortable with you. And when the time comes to purchase the product or service you’re providing, they’ll check you out.

3. Social keeps you competitive

Some people say you shouldn’t have a Facebook Page, just because your competition does. Well, I disagree. Of course you should! Your page just has to be better!

4. Social will give you credibility (if you’re doing it well)

Go to a website for a business you’ve never heard of? Then go to their Facebook Page and see a high number of comments, shares and likes? That’s immediate credibility.

5. Social supports other marketing

I recently posted a blog by Brian Solis, the well-respected social media evangelist. The theme of the blog focuses on, in Solis’ words, the hypothesis that “the game is moving away from metrics that measure clicks and eyeballs to click paths that deliver intended experiences and outcomes.” As a social media marketer, I can show an increase in fans, increase in mentions and likes and comments and those are important. But what we really want to do is to look at those numbers in terms of how effectively they create a path and drive traffic to the other elements of our business we want them to visit, such as the blog, website, email signups and product pages.

In Conclusion: You will get a return on your investment in social media marketing. You just have to have a clear expectation of what that return is going to be.